About The Jackson Davis Collection
Frequently-Asked Questions
What is the best way to search the database?
The answer depends on what kind of photographs you are looking for. A keyword search searches all fields in the database. For example, If you are looking for photographs of a particular school, you can use the Keyword search box. When doing a keyword search, less is always better than more; in other words, you would be more likely to get results with a keyword search st paul than with a search st pauls school lawrenceville. Other searches, such as State, Month and Year provide a list of possible choices for you to select from. You may combine any or all of the search features to narrow your search. Remember, the more options you choose, the fewer results you will retrieve. If you have any specific questions, please use our online reference request form.
Can I get copies of photographs in the collection?
Yes! Please see our policies on requesting reproductions for more information.
I would like to publish or exhibit photographs from the collection. How can I do that?
The materials on this website have been made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. For these purposes, you may reproduce (print or download) materials from this website without prior permission, on the condition that you provide proper attribution of the source. For other uses of materials from Special Collections--i.e., commercial products, print publication, broadcast, mirroring, reuse on a website and anything else that does not fall under "fair use"-- we require that you contact us in advance for permission to reproduce our materials. Please read our policy on use and reproduction of materials for more complete information.
Why do I get long lists of text when I view the search pages?
This problem is most likely due to the browser you are using to veiw the site. Internet Explorer does not support the use of pull down menus. The best browser to use to view the website is Netscape Navigator or Communicator. You can download the newest versions from Netscape Center.
I can't find photographs located in my city/county/state. Does that mean there aren't any in the collection?
Unfortunately, that is most likely the case. Davis was fairly consistent in providing geographic locations for his photographs; the project staff has expanded that information where possible to include city and town names, as well as county names within each state. Please be sure to check the database's searchable map for the state and county you are interested in. You may also wish to look at the approximately 600 unidentified photographs; you can retrieve these photographs by typing unidentified in the Keyword search box.
When I use the searchable county maps, I retrieve photographs from several states. Why is that?
When you execute a search from one of the state maps, the database software (Filemaker Pro) searches a single field (county) within all the data records. We have not yet been able to limit the search to data records for individual states without inserting an additional search step.
Why is there more information about the Virginia photographs than about photographs from other states?
The grant staff realized that in order to finish the project within its timeframe, we would have to limit in-depth research to a portion of the photographs in the collection. There are more than 1,500 photographs from Virginia (three times more than from any other state), representing nearly half of the Jackson Davis Collection. Since we are a Virginia institution, we felt it was appropriate to concentrate on the Virginia photographs first. We hope that other institutions will develop projects to research images from other states; we welcome the opportunity to collaborate on extending our work.
How did you get funding to do this project?
The Jackson Davis project was funded as a National Leadership Grant for Libraries through the Institute for Museum and Library Servcies. IMLS is an independent federal grantmaking agency that fosters leadership, innovation and a lifetime of learning by supporting museums and libraries. It was created by the Museum and Library Services Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-208), which moved federal library programs from the Department of Education and combined them with the museum programs of the former Institute of Museum Services.